Oaktree Capital's Danielle Poli is navigating the credit markets during one of its trickiest periods. But the portfolio manager reckons today's volatility can produce 'double-digit' returns in fixed income.

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• This week we're highlighting Danielle Poli, managing director and co-portfolio manager of Oaktree Capital's diversified-income fund.

Danielle Poli, a co-portfolio manager of Oaktree's diversified-income fund, has been on a bit of a whirlwind tour of late.

When she sat down for an interview with Insider, Poli had just arrived from California, her home state. She had just wrapped up other media appearances, and was mere hours away from boarding a flight to Australia, where she was scheduled to talk shop with institutional clients.

The 37-year-old oversees about $8 billion in assets in a multi-strategy fund that dabbles in high-yield bonds, leveraged loans, convertible securities, and structured credit instruments like collateralized loan obligations. It's a tricky time for credit investors like Poli, as hawkish moves by central banks have increased borrowing costs and hit debt markets hard.

But having access to a multitude of asset classes is the safest bet in today's choppy markets, she said.

"The benefit is being dynamic and flexible, and being able to go anywhere to take advantage of market volatility," she told Insider. "A lot of the volatility has been driven by rates and it's actually created this opportunity where you can get equity-like returns in fixed income. That does not happen often."

Indeed, US corporate high-yield bonds have slid about 11% to 12% in value this year, and leveraged loans are down almost 7% this year. And while there is little in terms of new deal flow, there is an opportunity for investors looking for double-digit returns.

Another hot spot is private credit. Oaktree's diversified income fund allocates about 25% of the portfolio to private debt, an increasingly popular space in the broader corporate credit universe, particularly as public markets have seized up.

The challenge, however, be it public or private markets, is picking debt for the right companies, Poli said. Credit selection is paramount when the threat of corporate defaults looms.

"Given the energy crisis, we dislike energy-intensive sectors right now. That could extend to industrials, chemicals, and we're also trying to avoid things that are more correlated with an economic cycle where consumers are hurt by high energy prices," Poli said. "But we do really like life sciences, parts of healthcare like medical devices or pharmaceuticals."

The fund takes an institutional-investment product, and puts it in a format for individual investors. Oaktree also partners with financial advisors, which then links the investment platform with individual investors.

Poli stepped up to manage Oaktree's diversified income fund just last November, when it launched. She has been with the company since 2013.

In addition to managing the diversified fund, Poli has led Oaktree's multi-asset credit offerings and is a member of the investment committee.

Before joining Oaktree, Poli worked for hedge fund PAAMCO KKR Prisma where she helped manage portfolios for institutional clients.

Los Angeles-based Oaktree was co-founded by Howard Marks, one of Wall Street's best-known voices on investment decisions.